Chapter 78: Chapter 78

There was a minute's silence and Sebastian felt Carol stiffen in his arms. He waited without saying anything until a sigh escaped her lips and she relaxed in his arms again.

"Jessica?" Carol asked, her heart beating fast as she wondered what the implications of this meant. She knew that Jessica was his ex-fiancée and was the reason why he had gotten married to Carol in the first place because his uncle had made his marriage to Carol the condition on which he would assist in finding Jessica.

"Yes, Jessica. My ex-fiancée."

"I know who Jessica is. Well, I'm happy for you." She said, not meaning a word of it. It wasn't as though she wished the woman bad, but then, Sebastian loved this woman... loved her so much that he was willing to saddle himself to a stranger whom he did not know from Adam just to make sure that she was found. How on earth could Carol compete with someone whom he loved so much?

"Thanks. There's a problem, though."

"What's that?"

"It was her blood that was on my shirt when I came in."

Carol sprang up from his arms and turned to stare down at him in shock. "How come? What the hell happened? Was she the woman I saw you with earlier this evening at the party? The one who has been making you act oddly since we got back from the party?"

Sebastian's forehead creased, and then the furrows on them disappeared. "Oh. So you saw us. Why did you not say anything?"

"Well, you were not answering my questions, remember?" Carol replied, shrugging. "So, how come she was bleeding? She seemed fine earlier today."

"Yes, I'm getting to that. Apparently, the people who kidnapped her set us up. I went to meet her at midnight at her request and I was still grilling her about what had happened to her when someone shot at us. A bullet pierced her in the chest. At first, I thought that she was dead because there was so much blood and she was so still. The ride to the hospital was the longest and scariest ride I've ever been in. However, we found that she was still alive when we got to the hospital, although barely, but I'm still very grateful for that." Sebastian said solemnly.

"Oh, my God. I'm so sorry about that." She said, instinctively looking over his bare chest and arms again. It was then that she registered the bandaged wound on his arm where the bullet had grazed him. her eyes opened wide and she exclaimed,

"Sebastian!"

"It's just a flesh wound, and I've had it looked at. I'm surprised that you're just noticing it. You were too busy moaning earlier to notice it, huh?" Sebastian joked, causing Carol to blush to the roots of her hair.

"Anyway," He continued, his face taking on a serious look. "Jessica got the worst of it. It's a miracle that she's not dead. She might as well be if not for the prompt intervention of the people at that hotel. She's in the hospital right now, and I've arranged for a private plane to take all of us back home first thing tomorrow morning so that she can be treated there. She's in a coma right now, but the doctor assured me that she will be stable enough to be moved by tomorrow morning."

"Christ! That's terrible. Poor woman." Carol intoned.

"That's how I felt. She has suffered so much. Imagine when she comes out of the coma and learns that while she was in the kidnapper's den suffering, her parent's home was burgled and they were murdered in their sleep. She has suffered a lot and I feel so sorry for her. That is why I'm going to spare no expenses in making sure that she gets the best of everything."

"I'm so happy that nothing bad happened to you, Sebastian," Carol said, snuggling up to him again, and taking care to avoid his injured arm. A sudden thought struck her again and she got on her elbow to look down at him again.

"How about the person who did it, Sebastian? Were they caught?"

Sebastian nodded solemnly. "Frank killed the guy who was shooting at us. I'm really glad that I trusted my instincts to inform him of where I was going. We don't know if there was anyone else, but the police said they did not find any sign of anybody else." He could not bring himself to tell her all of what he knew, that is the bit about his uncle and what he had done. The man was batshit crazy, and Sebastian was still trying to figure out the best way to handle the situation. One thing was sure, and that was the fact that Jessica needed to be watched round the clock, at least until she came out of the coma and was able to tell the police everything that she knew. Frank was with her right now, and he would fly back with her the next day. The hotel security had been informed of the incident and they were alert. Sebastian still had not confronted his uncle, but that had to wait, as he would do it in person. He wanted to look the man straight in the eyes and tell him what he thought of him, after which he would ban him from ever contacting or visiting him again. As for legal actions, he would wait until Jessica was awake and let her decide what she wanted to be done to him.

"I'm glad. Serves that bastard right." She said fiercely.

"Yeah. I already booked first-class tickets for you and me to go back since it's short notice. I hope you don't mind that. Jessica will be brought airlifted home to the best hospital there is."

"No, it's fine, Sebastian. I'm just glad that you're safe." Carol said, heaving a sigh of relief.

"Yeah. Me too." Sebastian said, dropping a tender kiss that threatened to wipe what was remaining of Carol's senses away. She melted against him, laying her head on his chest. Sebastian was here with her, and he seemed to be his usual self. They had even made love, which meant that everything was fine between them. Jessica was not going to come in between them as she had first thought. She just prayed that the woman recovered speedily so that she could stand on her own and be out of their hair in no time.

"Happy anniversary, Sebastian." She told him quietly.

"Oh, that's right. Happy anniversary to you too, Carol. I'm sorry that we would have to spend it this way. I had things planned for us to do to celebrate it, but then, this evening happened."

"Really? You remembered? I'm surprised." Carol said, not minding the fact that they would not be celebrating after all. The fact that he had remembered and had even had something planned for them called for a celebration on its own.

"Yes, I did. Anyway, let's get some shuteye. The next few days are going to be hectic." He informed her, so they both closed their eyes and tried to sleep.

"Everything is falling into place, and I'm so glad that they are." Carol thought to herself. She had no idea how wrong she was.